The father of a sailor aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln will remain in custody after being detained over the weekend by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the Department of Homeland Security said on Monday.
In a statement provided to MS NOW, a DHS spokesperson said removal proceedings are pending for Luis Manuel Aviles Roa of Key West, Florida, whose family members said Saturday that he had been detained.
The spokesperson said Aviles Roa will remain in ICE custody while removal proceedings are pending.
In a Facebook post on Saturday, the sailor, Joshua Aviles, said he had just been notified that his father had been detained by ICE. He described his father as “a hardworking, humble man who is always willing to help anyone if he can” and said the family is waiting for his father’s green card to be approved, adding that he has a Social Security card, driver’s license and work permit.
Aviles called his father’s detainment “heartbreaking,” adding, “I don’t know how I can mentally continue working 12+ hour days knowing that my dad is somewhere, possibly being treated like a criminal. My dad’s only ‘crime’ was coming to this country to give my siblings and me a better life.”
Aviles’ sister, Katherine Delgado, told KNBC that her stepfather was detained near a supermarket while taking his car to a mechanic.
The DHS statement described Aviles Roa as “an illegal alien from Nicaragua” and said he was detained following a vehicle stop in Key West.
“Having a family member in the military is not a free pass to violate our nation’s laws,” the spokesperson said. “Military service by an immediate relative does not automatically grant parole, lawful status, or immunity from immigration enforcement.”
ICE and the Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to requests for comment from MS NOW on Monday morning.
More than 50 parents and spouses of active duty military members have been detained by immigration officers thus far in President Donald Trump’s second term, and at least half a dozen have been deported, the AP found in an investigation published earlier this month.
Aviles said he has been deployed on the Lincoln in the Middle East for more than nine months, “fighting for a country that has given me everything.” As MS NOW reported earlier this month, family members of those deployed have been concerned about the conditions facing the crew of more than 5,000. They described many sailors not getting a single day off and going without basic supplies during the grueling deployment.
The Lincoln is now on its way back to San Diego.
Aviles did not respond to a request for comment from MS NOW.
Aviles Roa’s wife, Argelia Aviles, told the AP that her husband is a handyman who has been in the country for 19 years. She described him as a “good father” who “dedicates himself only to work so he can put food on the table at home.”
Delgado told the AP that her brother joined the military in part because he believed that doing so would mean his father would “no longer be living in fear of being arrested.”
She added that her brother is going to come home “without his father.”
Priya Sridhar and Mara Mellits contributed reporting.
The post Father of USS Lincoln sailor will remain in custody, DHS says appeared first on MS NOW.
